Silent Cost of Inaction

How Choice Paralysis Undermines Your Potential

The onset of adulthood is a frightening time for most. Parental control has eased, the constraints of educational institutions have been lifted, and you are thrust into a world like wet clay, ready to be molded and shaped by the forces of existence. The limitless paths available and options to choose from are paralyzing. Hesitant to choose, you instead try various samples like an indecisive child stupefied by endless ice cream flavor combinations. Nevertheless, time continues to tick and choices must be made, choices that dovetail into more severe, irrevocable decisions. The angst that emerges out of this concatenation of consequential choices is acutely described as the “anxiety of freedom” by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Far more threatening than this anxiety, though, is inaction.

Don’t Let Ripe Fruit Go to Waste

Sylvia Plath vividly depicts the fateful consequence of the self-conscious, indecisive mind in her poignant novel The Bell Jar. In the story, Esther Greenwood is overwhelmed by social influences and cultural expectations, each exerting pressure and presenting irreversible paths her life could take. This mirrors the scattered, perturbed mind of a college graduate staring at the vast, open landscape of their life — one that is now their own, no longer steered by parental or authoritative figures. The training wheels have come off and it’s time to pedal under the sole discretion of their own volition. This also extends to adults looking to escape a confined situation in life, who find themselves anxiously peering out into a world of endless opportunities, but bereft of a step-by-step guide. Decision anxiety is normal, but an over-fixation on choosing the ‘right’ path will leave you sinking in quicksand.

Simmering in the nauseating stew of possibilities Esther says to herself: “I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet." We’ve all felt this at some point in our lives. The suffocating fear that any one decision will send our life spiraling into oblivion. In reality, most decisions are reversible, and most mistakes are redeemable; however, a failure to assert yourself in the world allows life to pass you by as you wither and rot like a spoiled fig.

Inaction is an Action

As pointed out by French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre, the reluctance to choose is still a choice, and one that bears severe consequences: “I can always choose, but I ought to know that if I do not choose, I am still choosing.”

It’s possible that most of this sounds quite obvious, but it’s often the most apparent truths that are ignored. The presence of inaction doesn’t just lie in choosing one job over another, one partner over another, or one house over another. It also manifests in settling for an undesirable, immobilizing situation—accepting your position in life not from a place of gratitude, but from a perspective of fear of the unknown.

Russian novelist Ivan Goncharov illustrates this point in his novel Oblomov, which features an indolent, sybaritic man who resigns himself to a life of comfort and certainty. My review and analysis of this work can be found here. As it pertains to the consequences of inaction, later in the novel, the protagonist rebukes his ambitious friend, Stolz, citing the obstacles that prevent him from changing his ways. In response, Stolz acutely articulates how his burdens preventing change are self-imposed: “That's nonsense! Man was created to arrange life for himself, even to change his own nature, but you grow a belly and think that nature has sent you this burden. You had wings, but you got rid of them."

Action Creates Opportunities

We prefer to believe that those who often make the ‘perfect’ decisions and successfully maneuver through life are gifted in some manner that we are not, and that their paths are guided like a clearly lit runway. Instead, they understand that it’s better to try a fig, sweet or sour, while it’s still on the tree than to wait until it’s spoiled on the ground.

No matter your situation in life, don’t let choice paralysis suffocate your potential. Grab your figs as they present themselves and welcome the uncertainty that accompanies them. Action will always beckon further action, while inaction will cause you to wither away.